The Mask
by candle.22
Summary: "Friends. Is that what they are? They must be, for I have known no different" A glimpse into Tahnos past. He didn't always have it all, he didn't even have a true friend until the Avatar understood his hate for Amon.


I was still coming to terms with the fact that I wasn't a bender anymore. Most of my life I have been a bender and it feels like I had a part of me taken out by that evil masked man.

Amon.

It hurts to even think his name. The name of the man who took my identity away from me, and with it my hair.

Did he not realise that hair as amazing as mine could not be styled by mere hair gel? Could he not comprehend the amount of time I had put into developing and mastering a move like that?

Who is he to take away my waterbending, and with it a special form I had invented called Hairbending? In but a moment I had lost the only thing that kept me secure and confident.

I had always been teased as a child, my hair fell lankly upon my face, nothing could tame it. It made me clumsy for I could not see with my hair irritating my eyes during all hours of the day. The day I found out I was a waterbender I was trying to stop the bullies from picking on me. My parents were so proud of me, and I knew that my life would be better.

I trained relentlessly.

My parents hired a master to come and teach me, but the few hours a day I spent with him were not enough. I would wake up hours before my parents and sneak out to train.

I pushed myself to my limits.

And then I surpassed them.

I invented the art of Hairbending, it took a lot of my concentration to maintain, but I didn't care, finally I fit in.

I was no longer the clumsy, scrawny nonbender with the ragged hair that no one wanted to talk to. I held myself with a new confidence, I would no longer shy away from kids my age afraid they would torment me; they suddenly wanted me to play of their sporting teams. They wanted me to teach them what I knew about bending. They said my new hair made me look 'cool'.

I had friends.

I knew not of how shallow they were, I was accepted by them.

My new skill had made me friends, and I wasn't about to let my façade down. My grades dropped, it is hard enough to bend water I can't see without anyone noticing and keep it perfectly stationary, I couldn't do that and memorise everything our teacher saying.

My new friends and I would spar; I would win quite easily every time. They introduced me to pro-bending, it was a new sport that was taking my city by storm, they had even built an arena for it.

I trained even harder.

Eventually I was old enough to compete, 2 of my friends that I trained with and I formed a team. We called ourselves the Wolfbats.

Suddenly I had fans.

Suddenly everyone wanted to know me.

Somewhere deep inside I knew they didn't want to know _me_, they wanted to know the mask that I wore, not the man behind it. But the mask was all I had, I had been wearing it for so long I had forgotten who the man behind it was.

I had everything I had ever wanted.

I had fame, fortune and friends.

So why did I feel so empty inside?

….

The fight against the Avatars team was the hardest I had ever fought. She was the only girl I had met that I couldn't charm with my words or my hair.

Naturally I won.

But then I was faced with the worst experience of my life.

This man wearing a mask, how could I explain to him I also hid behind a mask? My teammates were near so I didn't dare tell him, I couldn't risk losing my friends.

Friends. Is that what they are?

They must be, for I have known no different.

Amon loomed over me, threatening to take everything I had. I pleaded with him, I offered him everything I could think of. Everything except an explanation.

In one moment it was over.

I had lost everything.

I had no money for I could no longer compete to win any.

I had no friends for they now viewed me for what I was.

What I am.

A defenceless, weak, ugly boy.

I don't blame them…That's what I see when I look in the mirror.

….

I was waiting to be interviewed by Councilman Tenzin, I didn't want to have to relive what had happened but I wanted that man to be brought to justice.

I was sitting hunched over in a chair; my mind recalled me doing this when I was a child and didn't want the other kids to take notice of me.

It worked much better when I was small.

I heard footsteps and looked up to see the Avatar had just walked in, they probably wanted to interview her as well.

A small part of me wondered, what did the Avatar think of me? She was after all the keeper of balance in the world, would she even acknowledge someone like me? The Avatar was the master of all four elements and I couldn't even bend one. But, I couldn't help wondering

"Hey Korra" I tried, I had heard her name said a few times

"Tahno?" She replied, she looked shocked to see me.

Shocked to see me or shocked to see what I had become?

I no longer held myself with confidence, I no longer had the ability to hold my hair up with water so it hung limply around and on my face.

I know she thinks I'm ugly.

She started walking closer to me, what was she going to do? Would she use her fists to beat me up like the kids at school use to? No, she had the 4 elements at her command, she wouldn't lower herself to a mere nonbender like myself. I braced myself for the impact.

It never came.

She sat down next to me, I was confused.

"Listen, I know we're not exactly best friends but I'm sorry Amon took your bending away" She said, sounding sincere.

My heart rose.

She said that we're not _best_ friends. Does that mean on some level we are friends?

No, she can't have meant that. She must have misspoke.

"I've been to the best healers in the city" I confessed to her, "Whatever Amon did to me, it's permanent"

It seems worse now that I've finally said it out loud. It's actually starting to sink in

It's permanent.

Permanent is forever.

Permanent is this life and beyond.

Why did that man do this to me? Didn't he realise I was nothing without the ability to hide behind my gift? Without bending I couldn't conjure a mask to live behind. Without bending I had to return to my old life, the life where I was treated as scum and hated by everyone.

I hate him.

I thought I hated the people that bullied me when I was a child but that is nothing compared to the rage burning deep within my soul.

"You gotta get him for me" I spoke without thinking. I never asked anything from anyone.

But, the Avatar nodded.

I could see the same rage I felt burning behind her blue eyes.

Korra understood.

Is this what it feels like to have a friend?

Is this what this fluttering sensation in my heart is?

It must be. For I have known no different.


End file.
